Bagley, Poulton key pair of Wheaton victories in Florida

March 14, 2007

FORT MYERS, FL- Junior Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) homered to spark a five-run rally as the Wheaton College softball team topped the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, 5-2 before she provided the tie-breaking RBI to back freshman Andrea Bagley's (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) two-hit shutout in a 2-0 win against the College of Wooster on Wednesday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. Wheaton is now 4-6.

In Wheaton's first game of the day, Richard Stockton raced out to a 2-0 lead after three innings by scoring on an error in the first frame and on senior Melissa Kerr's (Laurel Springs, NJ/Highland) two-out single in the bottom of the third. After yielding the two runs on three hits over the first 2.2 innings, Lyon junior hurler Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) did not allow a hit to the final 14 batters.

Freshman Merry MacDonald (Braintree, MA/Braintree) led off the top of the fifth with a single before Poulton launched the first pitch she saw deep into the left field gap, and the ball kept rolling toward the fence, which is set at baseball depth. Poulton easily raced into home ahead of the throw for her first collegiate extra-base hit, which knotted the game at two. Senior Nicole Lachance (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) drew a full-count walk with two down the following inning, moved to second on another MacDonald single and came around to score on an outfield error for the eventual game-winning run. The Lyons added two more two-out runs in the seventh, one on sophomore Katelynn Hanewich's (Bradenton, FL/Lakewood Ranch) RBI single and another on an error.

Moynagh fanned four of the final six batters, finishing with seven strikeouts in all during her complete game effort. She yielded three singles and one earned run while facing more than four batters in an inning only once. MacDonald finished 4-for-4, Hanewich and sophomore Brady Benton (Concord, NH/Concord) each went 2-for-4, and Poulton added a pair of sacrifices in addition to her long ball. Freshman Kaitlyn Corica (Iselin, NJ/JFK) took the loss for Richard Stockton after allowing nine hits, three runs and two earned runs in 5.2 innings.

Bagley was in control for much of Wheaton's second contest, putting together three 1-2-3 innings and facing more than four batters only in the top of the second inning. In that frame, Wooster put runners on first and second with two down before Bagley induced an inning-ending out.

MacDonald singled in the first, marking the sixth straight at bat in which she recorded a hit, but Wheaton didn't strike until the bottom of the third. Lachance dumped a double into left field, stole third and then scored on Poulton's two-out single back through the box. The Blue and White tacked on an insurance run the following inning, as senior Jessica DePolito (Taunton, MA/Coyle and Cassidy) drove a triple into the left field gap before junior Erika Marini (Pawtucket, MA/Saint Raphael Academy) poked a sacrifice fly into center. Wheaton threatened for more, as Hanewich, sophomore Lynn Cotto (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield) and junior Alix Brozman (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) followed Marini with consecutive singles with one down, but Wooster escaped the jam.

Defense was key throughout for the Lyons, who were flawless in the field. Benton in center field threw out a runner trying to take third to end the third inning, MacDonald at third base tracked down a foul pop near the fence that got caught up in the swirling wind during the sixth, and Poulton in right field threw out a batter at first base for the second out of the seventh after the player had sent what appeared would be a clean single toward Poulton.

Bagley yielded only a pair of singles five batters apart in the second and third innings while striking out three. DePolito and Hanewich each provided 2-for-3 days. Freshman Andrea Kelley (Westerville, OH/Westerville South) suffered the loss for Ohio-based Wooster, which is now 2-4, after allowing 10 hits in six innings.

Wheaton completes its 12-game Florida trip tomorrow with a pair of contests. The Lyons take on Transylvania University of Kentucky at 9:00 a.m. and North Park University of Illinois at 11:00 a.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 3/20/07.
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